girl's name
Eugénie
uh-zhay-NEE
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 1000 (France)
- Births on record 75,889
France
#373
2025 births
Eugénie means well-born, and its most famous bearer lost an empire — Empress Eugénie was the last French empress, fled Paris in 1870 and died in Madrid in 1920 having outlived the regime by fifty years.
- Eugénie is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 1902, when 3,125 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 4,065 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1900.
Eugénie over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 27,910 |
| 1910s | 15,365 |
| 1920s | 9,935 |
| 1930s | 3,715 |
| 1940s | 1,085 |
| 1950s | 605 |
| 1960s | 380 |
| 1970s | 885 |
| 1980s | 2,745 |
| 1990s | 3,245 |
| 2000s | 2,860 |
| 2010s | 1,820 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 820 |
What Eugénie means
Eugénie means well-born, or noble. The Greek joins a prefix meaning good or well to a root meaning born, so the sense is good birth rather than personal merit.
Where Eugénie comes from
Eugénie is the French feminine of Eugene, from the Greek Eugenios — eu, good, joined to genes, born. The eu gives euphoria and eulogy; the genes gives genesis and genealogy. Eugénie de Montijo married Napoleon III in 1853 and was the last French empress; after Sedan she escaped Paris and lived in England for nearly fifty years. The name is unrelated to the biological gene, which was coined separately in 1909.
Eugénie in use
Eugénie peaked in France in 1902, when 3,125 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. It now ranks 373rd in France on 145 births, 5306th in England and Wales and 11114th in the United States, across 75,889 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. A 1902 peak with a current French rank of 373rd means it has held its place for over a century.
How popular is Eugénie?
In 2025, Eugénie was given to 145 babies in France, ranking #373 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Eugénie is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
How Eugénie is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Eugenie | Eugenie is a spelling of Eugénie, used in Canada, where it ranks #998. | 4,824 |
| Eugènie | Eugènie is a rare spelling of Eugénie, written with a grave accent and recorded about 25 times, mostly in France. | 25 |
Names that peaked alongside Eugénie
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Eugénie also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Eugénie over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Eugénie
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Eugénie in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Eugénie
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Eugénie — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Eugénie
What does the name Eugénie mean?
Well-born — the Greek eu, good, joined to genes, born.
Who was Empress Eugénie?
The last French empress, who fled Paris in 1870 and outlived the regime by fifty years.
Is it related to the word gene?
No. That was coined separately in 1909 from a different Greek root.
How popular is Eugénie?
373rd in France, and our data marks it stable.
Is Eugénie a girl's or a boy's name?
Eugénie is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
What are the nicknames for Eugénie?
Eugénie is usually shortened to Genie.
Is Eugénie a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Eugénie currently ranks #373 in France. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.